Clarification awaited on vaccination

Clarification will be sought from the Election Commission on whether booth agents appointed by political parties should be vaccinated for COVID 19, Collector and District Election Officer M. Govinda Rao said.

Talking to reporters here on Saturday, Mr. Rao said that though getting vaccinated to avoid COVID-19 virus infection remains voluntary, the Election Commission had insisted that those drafted for election duty should have taken the vaccine.

In Thanjavur district, around 16,000 government officials/staff of different departments have taken the vaccination shots so far, the DEO said by pointing out that nearly 80% of the District Police personnel and 78% of the government employees coming under the control of the Assistant Director (Panchayats) have taken the vaccination.

When asked whether the vaccination compliance clause for deployment in poll duty would also be applicable to booth agents/counting agents to be appointed by the political parties, Mr. Rao said the District Election Wing would be seeking clarification in this regard from the Election Commission.

At this juncture, the DEO added that steps were also being initiated to provide COVID-19 vaccination for the media personnel too.